


let's grab the heart of the world

by murderousdeer



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Fake Marriage, Fake/Pretend Relationship, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-27
Updated: 2016-01-27
Packaged: 2018-05-16 16:03:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 17,443
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5831881
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/murderousdeer/pseuds/murderousdeer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Poe beamed at him before launching into an explanation. 'We need you to go on a secret diplomatic mission on the system of Neshama.'"<br/>Finn and Poe go undercover on a system where people soul-bond.</p>
            </blockquote>





	let's grab the heart of the world

**Author's Note:**

> Two fics in a month? I am as shocked and confused as any of you.
> 
> First things first: HUGE thanks to Julia [myownremedy](http://archiveofourown.org/users/myownremedy/pseuds/myownremedy)/[mouthlikeawolf](http://mouthlikeawolf.tumblr.com/). She gave me the original idea for this fic and betaed it like 4 billion times. She's the real MVP and an angel. Her notes regarding boners will forever remain dear in my heart.
> 
> Title from Gold by Wake Owl. I had to scour my iTunes library to find a decent title.

When General Organa had summoned Finn, he had to admit, he had panicked. He had only gained consciousness a couple of weeks prior, and full mobility a few days after that. He hadn’t had time yet to get himself into trouble. Which meant this was either about something from before, or this was the moment he had been dreading ever since setting foot on the Resistance’s base. This was the moment General Organa was going to take him aside and tell him ‘great job with the whole defecting thing, now get off my base.’

While it was true that he had given them some relevant information, it wasn’t exactly out of the realm of possibility that people might be uncomfortable with having a former Stormtrooper hanging around. Even one who had defected at the first chance.

Just now that he was beginning to enjoy the idea of being in the Resistance.

It was incredibly different from what he had always known as “home”. He had had friends among the Stormtroopers. There had been warmth and camaraderie between them. The general atmosphere however had been one of fear. Barring the officers, no one had been there out of their own free will or because of their intense belief in the First Order. The Resistance base was the exact opposite. It was a group of people from all over the galaxy coming together for one shared goal. Finn had never felt like he fit in, but the Resistance gave him hope that maybe one day he could.

He had even managed to make new friends. Poe, had insisted on introducing him to all his pilot friends, which had been an awkward but fun afternoon.

When Finn got to the command room he was expecting to see a grave looking General Organa standing alone, but instead the room was bustling with people zipping past him in all directions. The only people not moving were the General and Poe Dameron; instead, they were looking at something on a screen and muttering amongst themselves. Finn smiled. Poe Dameron wasn’t going to let them send him away. The man had visited him in the hospital every single day since he had gained consciousness (and if the med bots had to be believed, even while he was still out of it); Poe had given him his clothes and introduced him to all his friends. These were not the actions of someone who’s conspiring to ship you off to the Outer Rim. At least he hoped so.

“Ah, Finn. Come here, my boy.” Called General Organa. Her face was grave, as it had been ever since they had delivered the news about Han Solo to her, but not more than usual. Finn relaxed a little. He missed Solo too, in a weird way. Solo’s acceptance of him had included his faults and failures in a curmudgeon and rather rude way, but it had told him it was okay to run away. General Organa was going to accept him to greatness instead. It was both terrifying and somewhat comforting.

“Finn!” Poe greeted with a huge smile on his face. Finn found himself smiling back. It was hard not to when the man was around.

“Did you want to see me, General Organa?” He asked. There was no point beating around the bush.

“Yes, Finn, thank you for coming. I’m afraid the Resistance needs your help once again. On a mission.” She said, putting a strong hand on his shoulder.

Several emotions raced through Finn’s head, fear, excitement, and pride chief among them. The Resistance needed _his_ help. _General Organa_ was going to send him on a mission. For the _Resistance_. Was there a good chance he was going to die on this mission? Yeah, but that was a problem for future Finn.

“Of course, General, what do you need? Do you need someone to infiltrate an enemy base? Blow up another deadly weapon?” Now that he was relatively sure no one was asking him to leave, he felt even more indebted to the General and her people than before. It was a lot of debt.

General Organa chuckled. Finn would have been more put out about an officer openly laughing at him if he weren’t sure she hadn’t had many occasions to laugh in the past few years.

“Nothing like that. We need you on a diplomatic mission.” She concluded with a lingering smile on her face.

Before Finn could voice his concerns like ‘what?’ or ‘I was literally raised by Stormtroopers, what do I know about making deals with people from other planets?’ Poe cut in.

“News travel fast. A Stormtrooper defecting to the Resistance? That’s big news. You’re kind of a big deal in the galaxy, Finn.”

“Poe is right.” The General said before turning around to look at a monitor behind her. “When we defeated the Empire we made a mistake. A mistake that gave the First Order the possibility to flourish.” Finn couldn’t see her face, but her voice was grave and tinged with a sadness both old and new.

“We freed people from the Empire, but we forgot to educate them, to give them the chance to really understand what being free means. Change is slow and unfortunately people have short memories and little patience.” She continued.

“With all due respect, I still don’t understand where I come in, General.” Finn replied. Talking back to a command officer in any way was still so new and weird for him, but he thought he was definitely getting the hang of it.

General Organa turned around, smiling at him with a glint in her eyes, all trace of sadness replaced with determination. Finn could almost see the cogs and wheels turning inside her brain. Leia Organa was scary in a way no one in the First Order, and he would bet the Empire as well, could ever hope to emulate. Finn could see glimpses of her at times that made it clear she would rain righteous fury on anyone dumb enough to threaten what she believed in. If the years, the battles and the heartaches had tired her, she showed no outward signs of it. Finn chanced a glance to Poe. He was looking at the General with open admiration in his eyes.

“You are living proof that our ideals transcend factions, that giving people a choice is enough for them to make the right one. You represent hope to a lot of people, Finn.” She concluded, putting a hand on Finn’s shoulder. He totally understood why two rebellions chose this woman as their leader.

“Okay, I’ll do it.” he heard himself say before he had even thought it through. “Wait. I mean. Maybe tell me more before I accept.”

Poe beamed at him before launching into an explanation. “We need you to go on a secret diplomatic mission on the system of Neshama. They’re a peaceful system, far from the First Order and the Resistance. They don’t get involved unless they absolutely need to. Right now, they don’t need to. But you piqued their interest. The system is very wealthy. Their support could make all the difference.”

_But no pressure_ , Finn thought sardonically to himself, _it’s not like it’s my very first diplomatic mission or anything._

“We’re going to send you in undercover. No one is going to know who you are except for the Queen and her closest allies. You’re going to be completely safe. Sending you in with a fully armed escort would give you up, so we’ll just pick someone to accompany you.” Said the General.

“Wait, so I’m basically going alone in possibly hostile territory?” Finn asked, an edge of panic in his voice.

Either the General hadn’t heard him or she was ignoring him, because she went right on as if he hadn’t spoken.

“Poe, would you be okay with going with Finn?” She asked the other man. If possible, Poe stood up even straighter than before.

“Absolutely, General.” he said before subtly winking at Finn.

Finn mentally gave a sigh of relief. At least he wasn’t going into possible death alone. Even though most of his time spent with Poe had been a prelude to possible death and-or maiming, he had implicit faith in the man. “Best pilot in the Resistance” wasn’t just a title.

“Yes, of course, that’s what makes most sense.” Said the General. Finn realized that his musings had made him miss an entire part of conversation. He just nodded in the general direction of the other two and hoped he hadn’t missed anything too important. Oh well, he could always ask Poe later.

Asking Poe later turned out not to be an option. The man ran out of the room as if his pants were on fire and General Organa told Finn to go pack and report to the hangar as soon as possible.

Finn packed everything he owned in less than five minutes. He didn’t have many things; just some clothes, a toothbrush and the jacket Poe had given him. _That_ had taken a while to be patched up after Kylo Ren’s lightsaber had sliced through it. Surprisingly, more time than it had taken him to get better.

When he had done he surveyed the room and felt a pang of something dangerously close to sadness. The room looked like it didn’t belong to anyone. While it didn’t exactly _belong_ to him either, he felt weird leaving nothing of his behind. It felt too much like never coming back. He very much intended to come back. If he ended up dying in a simple diplomatic mission instead of the whole mess with the First Order and the map to Skywalker he was going to be so mad.

He took a shirt and a pair of pants from the bag, folded them neatly on a chair, changed his mind and instead threw them haphazardly on the bed. There, better.  He’d never had the luxury of messiness before. He found himself liking it. It made him feel like he could inhabit a space on his own terms for the first time ever. Finn took out another shirt from his bag and artfully threw it on the back of a chair. He turned off the lights and left.

Poe was waiting for him in front of a small ship barely bigger than an x-wing. He was wearing regular clothes instead of his pilot suit and his hair was disheveled in a way Finn had only recently learned was not casual at all, but rather required a full routine to achieve.

“Don’t worry buddy, I’m gonna get you back in one piece.” Poe grinned while climbing into the cockpit, Finn in tow. Finn had to admit that was mildly reassuring. Sure, his first piloting experience with the man had been a turbulent one, but still. Something about Poe that inspired confidence. He was sure of himself in a way that instead of screaming ‘I’m overcompensating!’ gently patted you on the back and said warmly ‘Don’t worry, I got this.’

Poe took off and Finn let out a laugh. Flying with Poe was always an exhilarating experience. He was a skilled pilot; Finn knew that much, but actually watching him work was amazing. His hands flew on the controls with surgical precision, his eyes fixed in front of him reflected the stars and planets he was zipping past. On any other day Poe would have showed off with some aerial acrobatics (Finn loved it when he did that) but he was evidently in Resistance Pilot Mode and kept it simple.

“Finn, buddy, did you hear what I said?” This shook Finn out of his reverie.

“What? No, sorry I was thinking about something. You were saying?”

Poe turned around just enough to grin at him.

“I was saying, we should consolidate our stories before we meet our contact. We won’t have time to when we land.” Poe said, his eyes once again focusing on the dark space before him. Finn could still hear the smile in his voice.

“Yes. Right. I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Finn admitted. He was trying a new radical truth thing. Lying hadn’t gone so well for him in the past. He felt a pang thinking about his adventures with Rey. She was somewhere in a lost system right now getting trained by the last Jedi. Objectively she was probably better than he was right now. Still, he missed her.

Poe laughed at him. Finn was starting to realize he had that effect on a lot people.

“Weren’t you listening when we discussed the people of Neshama earlier with General Organa? I did think it was weird you weren’t asking any questions.”

“I’ll have you know they taught us about all the relevant systems in Stormtrooper training.”

“You have no idea what Neshama is, do you?”

“No idea. No idea at all.”

It took Poe at least five minutes to recover from that, which Finn thought was excessive. However towards the end the man was full on _giggling_ , which was something Finn filed away for future reference.

“Okay, so,” started Poe, wiping his eyes, “the Neshamani are a humanoid race similar to us, however they have a distinct difference. They have the ability to soul bond. Some say it’s an evolutionary strategy. Others say it’s a manifestation of the Force. It’s all very mystical. Everyone bonds and marries as soon as possible.

“As a response to this, their society puts a very high value on committed romantic relationships of any type. This works to our favor because if I pose as your husband I am granted access to every meeting and every room you’re in.”

Finn blinked slowly at Poe’s head in front of him. This couldn’t be right. He would have heard it if someone had suggested pretending to be married to Poe Dameron as a valid diplomatic strategy. He knew he wouldn’t have daydreamed through it.

“Hey, buddy, are you okay back there?” Poe asked with an edge of something Finn couldn’t decipher in his voice.

“Yeah. Yeah! Of course, buddy. We’re husbands. It’s fine. It’s cool.” Replied Finn in the hope of coming off as way less awkward then he felt. Not that the idea of being married to Poe was awkward. You had to be blind not to see that Poe was a handsome man. He was competent, daring, and kind as well, not a bad combination. He was sure people would have gladly faced twenty rathtars to be in his position. Still, he felt…weird. Not even bad weird, just _weird_. He vowed to examine his feelings someday when he wasn’t completely overwhelmed by everything that was happening to him. Good plan.

“I think we should shoot for as close to the truth as possible with the Queen and stay vague with anyone else who might ask.” Said Poe after a while.

“Got it. Our first date was stealing a TIE fighter.”

“Well, let me tell you, it’s better than several other first dates I’ve been on.” Said Poe with a chuckle. Finn found it hard to believe. Unless Poe was secretly very into dying, then yeah, perfect first date. “What are we telling everyone else?”

“Why would anyone else ask?” Finn was under the impression they weren’t likely to interact with anyone who could get too invested in them or their stories.

“Trust me, buddy, the Neshamani are gonna ask.”

Before Poe could elaborate or Finn could ask him to, they signaled their contact to the system.

It was a big freighter, roughly the same size as the one Han Solo was piloting when he found the Falcon. Their ship was brought in from a secondary hatch into a holding compartment. It was dark inside, even more so with all the ship’s systems shut down. The men waited patiently for someone to collect them. It was imperative they weren’t detected by anyone while changing ships or all their secrecy would have been for nothing.

“Hellooo?” They were greeted by a heavily accented female voice, the point of origin unseen in the dark. The lights came on and they saw a humanoid woman coming their way. As a rule, Finn knew looks were deceptive, but this woman couldn’t have been farther away from his idea of a smuggler if she had tried. She was chubby, with dark hair and huge eyes. She was wearing a crewneck sweater, a V-neck sweater on top of that, and a heavy looking cardigan to top it all off. The patterns on all three items clashed horribly with one another. Finn waved at her. At least Poe looked as puzzled as he was.

“Ah, you guys. My name is Rosia Sprom. Nice to meet you – don’t tell me your names, I don’t wanna know.” She said cheerfully. Maybe too cheerfully? No, Finn was becoming too paranoid; there was no way this woman could be in any way connected to the First Order. They would have killed her on sight for the various sweaters alone.

“O-kay.” He said while Poe helped him get out of the cramped space of their ship.

“And whatever you do, don’t tell me what you’re here for.” She added cheerfully and with the face of someone who very much wanted to know what they were there for.

“No offense, but are you sure you know what you’re doing?” Poe asked, not unkindly, voicing what was going through Finn’s head as well. General Organa wouldn’t have been pleased to know her best pilot and her adopted Stormtrooper had been derailed almost immediately by a case of mistaken identity.

“Oh yes! I’m smuggling you to Neshama under the Queen’s orders. I’m a royal smuggler, you know. I smuggle stuff in and out for the Crown. Well, actually, I was trained as a psytech, dreamed of saving the system, curing one anxious citizen at a time, but sometimes life derails you. Met some people I shouldn’t have met. There was this one guy, hot as a summer day on Jakku, scalding really, but oh-so-bad, you guys wouldn’t believe it. Beautiful hair, filthy mouth, a rap sheet as long as my arm. So, here I am. Oh boy. Did I say too much? I definitely said too much. It’s good you guys totally look like nice people or I’d definitely be in trouble.” She concluded miming getting shot through the heart and then giving a hearty laugh.

If Finn weren’t forced to move forward by circumstances he would just stand there and stare for as long as humanly possible. He looked at Poe, who was staring at the back of the woman’s head. He looked like someone who is trying very hard not to burst out laughing at a funeral. He resolutely did not catch the man’s eye. Despite the chattering and the sweaters, maybe making their only contact mad by laughing at her wasn’t the best course of action.

They boarded another ship, considerably bigger and more luxurious than the ones they had taken from the Resistance base. It was a passenger ship. Finn had never been in one before. The seats were a lot more comfortable. Poe, however, looked decidedly uneasy when Rosia took the piloting seat.

“Well, pals, you’ll find some papers on the table in front of you, please fill them in because we’ll need them when we land. You can fill them in with fake information if you want, just don’t tell me.” She finished in a sing-song voice.

Finn took the forms and scanned them. They seemed pretty standard ones. He filled them as well as he could and left the rest blank.

“Okay you need to help me with this.” He said after he finished.

“Sure thing.” Poe replied without taking his eyes off his own forms. Finn craned his neck to look at it. Poe’s handwriting was big, neat and round.

“Well. First things first, I don’t have a last name.” He whispered, mindful of Rosia’s warning.

Poe shrugged. “Take mine.”

Finn just stared at him until Poe must have felt his eyes on him and looked up. Poe smiled. “We’re married. Community property.”

Finn picked up his pen again and wrote “Finn Dameron” at the top of the page in the designated space. The sight made his palms sweat for some reason. First the weird Neshamani contact, now this. He was about to get the space plague or something equally dire.

It took them only a few more minutes to finish filling the forms together and when they were finally done they could already see the Neshama system from the ship’s front window.

It was a beautiful sight. The system was comprised of five small, stunning planets, each circled by a handful of moons, all orbiting three suns. The most interesting part was the constant flow of tiny ships traveling between one planet and the other like an orderly galaxy of motorized stars.

Rosia picked up the ship’s interphone communicator and her voice flooded the air. “Welcome to the Neshama system, ladies and gentlemen. In front of you, you can see the system in all of its splendor.

“The first planet on your right is Maeem, the water planet. It’s entirely made of drinkable water and all activity is severely restricted to the designated zones, such as the manmade resort islands and the hydroelectric ships.

“The second planet is the verdant planet of Etz. Well, it’s self-explanatory really. Harming any plant at all is absolutely forbidden unless you have the right permits and the right reasons. Tours can be arranged if you know the right people. I’m the right people. In case you were wondering.

“First on the left is our residential planet, Yir. It’s where everyone lives. If you visit, go to Rossah’s it’s the best Neshamani cuisine in the galaxy. Very romantic. Ideal for a date.

“Second on the left is our smallest planet, Charoshet. It’s what we in the biz call a ‘production planet’. It’s where we produce the clothes and fabrics our system is most famous for.

“Last, but not least, is Neshama itself, our capital planet. It’s where all government buildings are. Fun fact: it’s said that people who soul-bond on Neshama will find each other again in their next life, so if you’re gonna do it, try doing it there.

“Neshama is also our final destination. Please fasten your seatbelts and get ready to descend quickly as I’m not exactly the most welcome figure on this planet. Not my fault of course, that guy I was talking about earlier. Real scoundrel, he used my papers to smuggle out some things that really shouldn’t have been smuggled out.”

“Wait, you’re not coming with us?” Asked Finn, perplexed. How would they find their way through a city as big as a planet without a guide? What if they did get a new guide and they were even weirder than Rosia Sprom? Finn and Poe couldn’t survive someone weirder than Rosia Sprom, not without cracking a rib trying not to laugh.

“Nope! Don’t worry, the Queen’s assistant will be there to pick you up. As I said, I’m kind of not allowed to put my foot on Neshamani ground. Sorry.” She said with a shrug and a tinny laugh. “But don’t worry; when you’re ready to go back to your ship I’ll be there to pick you up. Your contact’s name is Ridlee. Trust me, you’ll recognize him.”

They finally touched ground and the woman cheerfully waived them off as they walked towards the hangar’s exit.

“That… Was so weird.” Finn said, straining not to lose Poe, who was walking in front of him, in the crowd. Poe stopped suddenly and Finn almost crashed into him, managing to stop himself at the very last second.

“I see him. This way.” Poe said after a few seconds. He took Finn’s hand and half guided, half dragged him towards an unseen destination. Finn looked down at their hands and squeezed Poe’s experimentally. It was warm and Poe squeezed back without looking at him. Finn’s stomach churned in an uncomfortably unfamiliar way.

Their goal seemed to be a man standing alone in the center of the room. Dressed all in black in a sea of eccentrically dressed people, he stood out. His hair was dark, plaited in a cone on top of his head; the whole thing gave him at least a whole inch. His eyes were bigger than a normal human’s and a striking pale grey.

“Dameron.” The man said with a tight smile to the pilot and an odd look to Finn as soon as they were close enough.

“Ridlee.” Poe let go of his hand (which Finn had no internal or external reaction to, definitely), and greeted the man with a handshake. Finn noticed Ridlee was wearing black leather gloves. Actually, now that he was looking at him, the only patch of visible skin was the man’s face. Not that his face was in any way readable or open. If he didn’t know better Finn would have assumed the man an android, except all the androids he knew emoted more.

Without uttering any more words, the man started walking in the direction of the exit. Poe grabbed Finn’s hand again and they followed.

If Finn had thought Rosia’s constant chatter had been odd, Ridlee’s icy silence was worse. Finn had the distinct impression the man didn’t like him very much, but he chalked it up to nerves and paranoia and moved on. He was on a mission for the Resistance; he had to focus on that.

Outside the hangar, Finn couldn’t help but let out a gasp of surprise. Neshama was stunning. Everything was glass and travertine, sharp peaks and angles blended harmoniously with gentle curves and warm colors. The three suns’ light bounced from surface to surface, projecting fragments of rainbows onto the pavements and the people walking by. It was at the same time modern and timeless. He had never seen anything more beautiful in his entire life.

He glanced at Poe. He too was staring, slack jawed, to the spectacle before them. The light was bringing out the warm tones of his skin and the suns were dancing in his eyes. He was stunning, too.

“Gentlemen, it’s not wise to make the lady wait.” Ridlee said gesturing to the hovercar he’d stopped.

The two quickly got inside and settled down for the trip to finally meet the Queen.

Finn spent the entire time looking outside his window. He’d never had this small luxury as a Stormtrooper. He’d never had the chance to just observe. Neshama was the perfect place to begin. The people milling around were all clad in colorful clothes and strange patterns, nothing like the obligatory First Order uniforms or the utilitarian Resistance clothes. Everything about their appearances was carefully curated and unique. You couldn’t see two people wearing the exact same thing in the exact same way. It was amazing. Compared to these people the woman who had smuggled them onto the planet was positively sober.

After only a few minutes, they seemed to have reached their final destination. If Finn had been amazed at the general architecture of Neshama, it was nothing compared to the Parliament’s building. It was as big as a small village, with a mess of spires, turrets and arches, stone flowers and leaves covered it all. Big, circular windows and geometric patterns covered the façade. This left space only for what seemed like an intricate story carved skillfully and in detail above the huge main door.

Finn couldn’t wait to get inside, but instead of going into the front door Ridlee shuffled them into a side door. They climbed three interminable flights of stairs, Finn was ecstatic to notice he was barely winded at all. All those weeks of physical therapy and the training sessions with Poe’s pilot buddies had done miracles for his athleticism and, not to brag, his abs.

Ridlee led them to a big oak door at the end of a long corridor. He stopped right in front of it.

“This will be your room for the duration of your stay. Whatever you need, please type it out on the tablets on the bedside tables. I’m sorry but for your safety we need to ask you to not leave your room unless escorted by me. I’ll be back to collect you in an hour. You have time to freshen up and change into the clothes provided for you.” With that Ridlee left them to their own devices.

Finn looked at Poe, who shrugged and opened the door to their room. It was roughly ten times bigger than Finn’s room with the Resistance and the First Order combined. There was so much gold around that Finn was pretty sure just selling the golden threads in the sheets would probably pay for an x-wing for every member of the Resistance.

“You weren’t joking when you said this was a wealthy system.” Finn said after the initial shock passed. Poe still seemed vaguely shell-shocked. It was comforting to know he wasn’t the only one awed by the planet’s opulence. If Finn were to think about it, and he’s not, he’d say that the way Poe wore his heart on his sleeve was the thing he liked the most about the man.

“Now you understand why we need them to help us.” Poe replied, shrugging. “I’m gonna go take a shower if you don’t mind, or I’ll probably fall asleep on my feet.”

“Sure, go for it.” Finn replied while moving onto examining the contents of the dresser.

It was full of the colorful clothes he had seen people wear on the streets. Was he supposed to wear something specific? Would some colors mortally offend the Queen? Was he supposed to wear as many layers as he could move in? This was quite possibly the fashion crisis with the highest stakes he’d ever been in. Came to think of it, this was his first fashion crisis period. The First Order had given him standard clothes whenever he needed them. As for his time spent with the Resistance, when he hadn’t been wearing a medical gown, he’d mostly been given the type of pants and shirts everyone wore. Pants and shirts he topped off with Poe’s jacket whenever the situation required it. The situation required it a lot.

In the end, he picked out the fanciest garments he could find. He chose a silk long sleeved shirt and a coordinated pair of pants in a flowery print in dark blue and burnt orange. Deciding that layering was probably a good bet he also picked out a long jacket a more sedated sand color.

The moment Finn had put an end to his fashion dilemma; he heard the bathroom door open. Poe came out wearing only a white towel slung low on his hips. His skin was still wet and his hair was curly and wild. Poe wasn’t the tallest or broadest person Finn knew, but he was still probably the most handsome. Seeing him shirtless and wet was only confirming what Finn already knew, really.

Finn flew into the bathroom at top speed, clean clothes forming a bundle in his arms. He was breathing heavily and he could feel his face getting warmer and warmer. Space plague.

He showered quickly, very pointedly thinking about his abject terror about what was about to happen and nothing else. Despite his hurry, he got dressed carefully. The last thing he needed was putting his pants on backwards and having it pointed out by the Queen herself. Finn gave himself a once over in the mirror. He looked utterly ridiculous. At least that was a familiar occurrence.

When he got out Poe was looking at himself in the mirror, fixing his hair. In the most unfair thing since the inception of the universe, Poe looked great in his Neshamani clothes. He had chosen to wear a pair of his simple black pants, with a long brocade green and black tunic on top. At the end of the trip he was definitely going to suggest a shopping spree on the planet to the man.

“You look good.” Said Poe, his reflection smiling at Finn from the mirror.

“Lying to your husband isn’t nice.” Finn replied with a grimace on his face.

“I’m not! For never having heard about this system before a few hours ago, you picked up their fashion sense very quickly. You look like one of them.”

Finn chose to interpret this as a compliment instead of the low blow to his self-esteem that it clearly was.

Finn would have very much liked to lie down on the big bed, rest his eyes just a little. He was debating the merits of meeting the Queen with his clothes rumpled by a quick nap, when someone knocked on the door.

Poe opened it and Ridlee was standing on the other side. He had changed his clothes as well. He was still dressed in black, covered head to toe, with just his face visible. However now his clothes were iridescent, as if a thousand flies had decided to make his body their nest.

“Come with me.” He simply said before starting to walk away. Poe and Finn followed suit.

This time they reached an elevator that brought them up to the highest floor. Finn thought he was getting used to the splendor of the place and its architecture, but the Queen’s chambers were something else entirely. Everything was red and gold. The ceiling was completely made of glass, and now that the three suns were setting, they were bathing the entire room in various shades of pink, purple, red, and orange.

The only other person in the room was a woman. Finn estimated she was taller than all of them combined. She had long dark hair plaited in a multitude of tiny braids and deep, dark eyes. Finn was somewhat disappointed to see she was wearing what appeared to be a very simple dress. It was long and sleeveless, at turns emerald, purple, blue, turquoise, and gold. Then she approached the men and Finn could see that the various colors weren’t given by simple fabric, but rather by feathers, flowers and butterflies woven with one another to create a stunning effect.

“Ah. You must be Finn.” She said taking his hands in hers. “I see you found the clothes we picked for you. You both look stunning!”

“Thank you, Your Majesty.” Finn replied barely managing not to end the sentence as a question. He assumed this woman was the Queen. Well, she looked queenly enough.

“And this must be your husband.” The Queen continued shifting her attention on to Poe. “I have heard great things about you, Poe Dameron.”

“Don’t believe any of them.” Poe replied with a charming grin. The Queen seemed suitably impressed by the combination of hair, smile and personality. Finn couldn’t really blame her.

“Come with me; let’s sit down so we can talk. You can leave us, Ridlee.” She said to the man while heading towards the nearest couch and sitting down with grace.  Finn and Poe followed suit.

“Are you sure it’s wise Your Majesty?” Ridlee replied, eyeing Finn and Poe in a way Finn thought completely unwarranted since they’d exchanged three words, tops.

“You always worry so much, Ridlee. I’m going to be fine.” The man bowed and left.

“So. Should we start talking about…diplomatic options?” Finn asked tentatively. He was so not cut out for this.

The Queen laughed, which should have shot Finn’s confidence to hell but at this point was a comforting constant.

“I would never do something that rude to you. No, that’s for tomorrow and the days to come. Tonight we talk. I’ll listen to your story, how is our custom.”

“My story?”

“Our story.” Interceded Poe taking his hand and flashing him a blinding smile.

“Oh. Yeah. Our story. About us and our undying love. Of course.” Would Finn’s life ever come to a point were wildly ridiculous and-or dangerous things weren’t constantly happening to him?

“Well,” Finn continued, “I was a Stormtrooper. After my first mission on Jakku we captured this Resistance pilot. I saw him in passing and I just. I had to do something. I couldn’t let him die.” It wasn’t exactly a lie. Yeah, Finn had needed a pilot, but he had to be honest with himself. Despite all the mortal trouble it would have caused them both, he’d have at least tried to break Poe out of the First Order grip. Would they have died? Absolutely, no question about that. “So we stole a TIE fighter, I was lucky Poe is, well, _Poe_ , or we would have been blown to smithereens in the atmosphere outside Jakku. Still, we crash landed and I thought he was dead.”

“But you weren’t!” Said the Queen with a glint in her eyes talking to the other man.

“I had a concussion but I was alive. I hitched a ride with a scavenger and managed to get off the planet. We got the call about them being on Takodana only a few hours after I got back to base. They didn’t want me to fly that soon, but I had to find out whether it was really them.” There was a weird edge to Poe’s voice. Finn chalked it up to the trauma he had experienced. He had gotten a short relation of the events from the man soon after waking up and he had sounded pained. He could imagine what he had felt, waking up confused and with no memory of what had happened on a strange desert planet. He had been lucky to meet Rey when he had or he would probably have faced a worse fate.

“And can you believe it? We get back to base and I find this guy there, not only alive, but having saved both my droid and my jacket. Which he actually wore better than me. _That_ was a blow to my confidence.” Poe continued with enthusiasm.

“And right after that you guys blew out the Starkiller base together!” Squealed the Queen clapping her hands together with excitement. “Wow, that’s some first and second date.”

“I know, right?” asked Poe leaning towards the Queen “What chances did I have? I fell in love instantly.”

Finn could feel the heath rising to his cheeks. No one had ever pretended to be in love with him before. It was oddly touching, the way Poe was selling the story. He made Finn wonder what it would feel like to feel the man’s love for real.

The Queen inquired about their story for a few more minutes. She seemed delighted with the answers. Poe and Finn stayed close to actual events, embellishing here and there with secret dates and stolen kisses. Finn had to admit it was a beautiful story, it had everything, action, romance, intrigue, and too many near death experiences.

After a couple of hours the Queen finally released them and Ridlee came back to escort them to their room. Finn sank on the bed, took off his shoes and let Poe help him get out of his jacket. He was so tired and the bed was so comfortable. He got under the covers and fell asleep immediately.

Finn woke up the next day with a warm weight on his stomach and someone’s breath on his neck. It took him a few seconds to place where he was and who it was next to him. Finn thought it unsurprising that Poe was a sleep cuddler. The man was very affectionate awake, there was no reason to believe asleep he’d be any different. Finn was contemplating going back to sleep, Poe was warm and comfortable and Finn had managed a whole night of sleep without any nightmares. Was it weird that he wanted to go back to sleep hugging his friend? Finn wouldn’t know. Appropriate social boundaries had never been a priority in the First Order’s programming. He just knew he felt comfortable and safe.

Which was also why the erection pressing on his side was somewhat of a dilemma. Sure, Finn has seen his fair share of erections before (he had shared his quarters with a dozen other Stormtroopers with a very loose understanding of the concept of privacy after all). Never quite this intimately though. Was it weird that it didn’t feel that weird? Was he supposed to politely ignore it? It’s not like he was going to whip his dick out and stage a lightsaber battle with Poe.

Before he could make an executive choice however, Poe started to wake up.

“Good morning.” He muttered, nuzzling into Finn’s shoulder and with apparently no intention whatsoever to let go or get up. Politely ignoring it was it then.

Finn was just about to fall back asleep when someone knocked on the door. Without waiting for an answer, Ridlee came in.

“I’m sorry to come in here like this, but you’ll need to be ready soon if you want to make the meeting with Her Majesty. She’s going to be busy for the next two days so it’s now or when she comes back.”

Poe whined, clearly not on board with the idea of getting up. Finn sighed, and got up.

“Let’s do now.” He said. Without another word, Ridlee left.

Finn picked out some random clothes from the dresser, and ran to the bathroom. If Finn had been a lesser man, he would have tried to see just how loud his outfits could become before someone called him out on it.

Finn got out of the bathroom in record time and saw Poe still in bed, holding the covers tight over his head. He took a moment to compose himself and will the fluttery sensation in his stomach to stop.

“Poe.” He tried. No answer. He got closer to the bed and tried again. Still nothing.

“Poe, please. We can’t stay here a whole week, all the garish colors will blind me.” Finn said climbing on the bed again and trying to pry the covers from Poe’s grip.

Poe grumbled something indistinctive but eventually got up with a huge yawn. His hair was sticking up in different directions. Finn was very careful not to outwardly react to it, lest Poe take offense and go back to bed. It was cute though. Dangerously cute.

“I hate you.” Poe said, hiding his face in his hands. As if _he_ was the one being victimized by all the emotions Poe was stirring in him.

“That’s adorable, now get dressed.”

Poe finally did get dressed (Finn mentally said goodbye to Poe’s dick, his new enigmatic friend), just in time for Ridlee to come and collect them.

The Queen was in her private chambers, finishing getting ready for her trip. As soon as the men entered, she dismissed her staff except for Ridlee and another humanoid woman with short brown hair and brown eyes.

“Ah! Mr. and Mr. Dameron!” The Queen greeted them opening her arms. “I’m sorry to leave you with such short notice, but I need to attend some serious matters or I wouldn’t. Ideally I’ll be back tomorrow night, realistically probably in three days.” She concluded, making a face.

“So, let’s get down to business! You know Ridlee,” the Queen said gesturing towards the man, “and this is Jandé.” She gestured towards the other woman. “They are my trusted advisors, so you need to impress them as much as you’ve impressed me. Make your case.”

“Why should our system get involved with your war on the First Order?” Ridlee asked immediately, almost as if he’d been dying to ask that very question since they had met.

“Oh, so we’re jumping right into it.” Muttered Finn.

“It’s not _our_ war.” Immediately clarified Poe. “Do you think the First Order is gonna be content to just sit in their own little corner of the Galaxy? They’re not. It might take them years, decades or centuries, but they’re gonna reach your system as well. And when they do, it won’t matter whether you stayed out of it or not.”

Poe’s vehemence seemed to surprise the Neshamani people in the room; he was always so charming and composed that this outburst seemed out of character. Finn, however, was unsurprised. Poe had told him how Kylo Ren had tortured him and how affected he had been. Finn put a hand on Poe’s elbow, just to let him know he was there.

“But if we do get involved, they will know. We will be a target.” Shot back Ridlee.

“Maybe. Maybe not.” This time the Queen herself had spoken. “We have our ways, you know that.” She said with a pointed look.

“Usually a financial involvement this big would have to be approved by public referendum. For special circumstances, such as this, the Queen can approve up to a certain sum autonomously.” Clarified Jandé.

“They’ll know, Your Majesty. They always know. It’s a huge risk.” Ridlee replied, his tone kinder and softer that the one he’d used before.

Before the Queen could answer, Jandé spoke again. “What would you use our money for?”

“Weapons, supplies, education.” Replied Finn. “They’re all equally important. We don’t want to commit the same mistakes those before us made. We want to help people before, during and after the war.”

“You want to buy the people’s freedom?” Sneered Ridlee.

“No. We want to buy them a choice.” Finn said, echoing General Organa’s words.

“What makes you think people want to choose? Isn’t that why we elect our politicians and our leaders? To choose for us?”

“I was taken as a child to be trained to be the perfect soldier. I never had a choice. And let me tell you, as much as it’s made my life considerably more complicated, I’d choose to have one any day.” Replied Finn, his voice was even and controlled.

Someone knocked three times at the chamber’s door; it must have been some kind of code because the Queen stood up and put on her coat.

“I’m sorry, I have to go. Ridlee, Jandé, I am in favor of helping them with their cause, but I will not move without the support of at least one of you. Think about it carefully, but do it quickly. Our friends are in the middle of a war, we can’t ask them to wait weeks for us to decide. I expect you to have made up your mind upon my return.” With that, the Queen left.

Jandé excused herself and a silent Ridlee escorted Poe and Finn back to their room.

As soon as they were safely behind closed doors, Finn whistled. “That was intense.”

Poe let himself fall onto the bed and gave out a shaky laugh, more to relieve nervousness than out of amusement.

“Sorry, I don’t think I was of great help there.” Poe said, looking up the ceiling.

“Are you kidding? The Queen is pretty much ready to propose and Ridlee hated us from the moment we stepped out of our ship anyways. The only unknown variable is Jandé, but I think she likes us. We’re adorable.” Finn said reassuringly. They had a fifty percent chance of success, at least. Those were way better odds than he usually dealt with.

Poe was still oddly silent, probably still brooding about the meeting. “Hey. You know what we haven’t done _at all_ since we got here?”

“Eat?”

“Eat! I’m starving. Didn’t Ridlee talk about some tablets that should make the food come to us?”

Poe got up, and opened a drawer in one of the bedside tables.

“Ah ha!” Poe exclaimed holding up a communication tablet. “There’s a direct line with the kitchen and what seems a very varied menu.”

“Oh man. I am _starving_. Honestly just order one of each. I’d eat a rathtar right now.”

“Well, there are a few things on this menu I don’t know or understand, so that may well be the case.”

Poe eventually settled on a few dishes he and Finn could split and sat back down on the bed. Poe was a very unobtrusive roommate. Finn had closed his eyes, just for a moment really, and the only sound he could hear was Poe breathing steadily next to him. It was very soothing.

After only a few minutes someone knocked on their door, Poe got up to open the door and two waiters pushing silver carts full of food entered the room.

“Here’s your food Mr. and Mr. Dameron.” One of the men said with a flourish. The other man elbowed him lightly and the first waiter sighed. “Sir, would you like to tell us how you met.”

Finn stared at the men, blinking slowly. What?

Poe instead grinned and simply answered, “He saved my life and I feel in love.”

The men seemed satisfied with this exchange and left closing the door behind them.

“Well. That was weird.” Finn burst out as soon as he heard the door click.

“It’s cultural.” Replied Poe, seemingly amused by the situation. “People here are obsessed with love stories. It’s a form of cultural and social currency.”

“If you say so. I still don’t understand how the whole bonding thing works, just for the record.” Finn said while digging into the closest plate. It was something green that smelled pleasantly of pine trees and tasted fresh and light. Finn had never had the chance to really explore food while a Stormtrooper, and while the Resistance’s mess hall was good, it was hardly fancy. This food was.

“Well. No one really knows _why_ it happens. I imagine it’s like being a normal person, walking around, doing your job, living your life, maybe even having a relationship. Until one day, you touch someone and you feel like your very molecules are shifting. From then on, it’s like having tunnel vision. You only see them. Food doesn’t taste as good without them, colors aren’t as bright, the stars aren’t as inviting.” Poe had a wistful expression, but his tone wasn’t sad, it was excited.

“It sounds like you experienced it.” Finn said, using his fork to spear one of the dumplings on Poe’s plate.

“No, but I’ve been in love, and that’s kinda the same thing.” Poe replied with a shrug.

“Someone broke your heart?” Finn asked half-jokingly. If Finn was being honest with himself, which he was trying to do lately in line with his new radical truth policy, he had to admit he had spent a lot of time observing Poe. Poe was a genuinely enthusiastic and positive person. He was charming, handsome, and kind. Everyone on the Resistance base either had a crush on him or loved him like family. Still. Sometimes when Poe thought no one was watching, something clouded his eyes. He wanted to know what it was and maybe help make it better. It was only fair after everything Poe had done for him.

“That’s half the fun.”

“I don’t see how that’s any fun.” replied Finn, who was on the tail end of nursing his own heartbreak. Rey, the first person he’d ever had _feelings_ for, was somewhere in the galaxy getting trained to become a Jedi. Which was great for Rey, but kinda sucked for him. He guessed loving someone also meant being happy for their happiness when it didn’t coincide with your own.

Poe didn’t answer; instead he put some more fried mystery meat on Finn’s plate.

The two men spent their day alternatively eating, napping, playing complicated games of cards, talking about nothing in particular, and digging out all the clothes in the dresser in a competition to assemble all manners of weird outfits. Finn had never really had a day off before and he was starting to see the appeal. Poe looked relaxed as well. He was older than Finn by a few years, but looking at him no one would have ever guessed. He never stopped, he was always moving, laughing, working. Finn sometimes felt older than his few years. He guessed that was one of the reasons why they had become good friends. They balanced each other out.

When the next day came, Finn was starting to feel restless. He had woken up to Poe’s back. It was a nice back but it wasn’t nearly as nice as waking up in his arms. Poe seemed even worse off than he was. Both of them were used to going out and _doing_ things. Reckless, dangerous and potentially life-threatening things, but even running into certain death was starting to sound tempting. A thought that in and of itself was testament to Finn’s boredom.

They had just finished having breakfast when Poe looked very intently at Finn for a few seconds before breaking into a grin.

“Hey Finn.” Finn looked up. He was so bored.

“Yes. Whatever it is, yes, let’s do it.”

“Great. We’re gonna break out of here.”

Finn felt a thrill go down his spine. Finally. Was he completely on board with just walking around in a potentially hostile territory? Not really, but he was less on board with getting cabin fever.

Finn got dressed; he put on a pair of his own pants but chose to pick out the simplest shirt he could find. It was black brocade and despite its garish paisley pattern, it actually felt nice against his skin. Finally, he retrieved his jacket from the chair he’d carefully laid it on. That jacket was his most prized possession.

“Ready?” Asked Poe, emerging from the bathroom dressed in black pants and dark red shirt.

Finn nodded and the two carefully got out of the room. The corridor was deserted. Finn had expected more security, at least a soldier or two. Maybe a heavily armed cleaning crew. He would have settled for a guard droid.

As they creeped down the corridor, they couldn’t hear any noises coming from the other rooms. It seemed like the entire wing had been reserved for them.

The two managed to sneak down the three flights of stairs and get out of the door undetected. The grounds outside were crawling with guards, locals milling around and tourists visiting the Parliament. Poe took Finn’s hand and the two mingled with the crowd. He had done it casually, probably to avoid getting separated by the multitude of people around, but still it made Finn’s heart race a little. In less than two minutes, they were once again walking around the beautiful buildings of Neshama and its colorful inhabitants. Finn took a deep breath of fresh air.

Poe was still holding his hand, even though there were no crowds and no chance of getting lost. Finn squeezed a little. Poe smiled at him. He didn’t let go of Finn’s hand. Finn smiled back.

Finn thought they were just going to walk around aimlessly until they had burned all restlessness away, but Poe seemed to have a specific destination in mind. He kept making very specific turns. While walking around Finn noticed long lines of people waiting outside various buildings. They were all dressed in even fancier clothes than he’d come to understand were the norm; some were humanoids, others weren’t.

“What are they waiting for?” Finn asked, nodding in the direction of a cluster of people.

“Oh. Those people? They’re getting married. This planet is possibly the most popular wedding destination in the galaxy.”

Before Finn could ask more about it, or inquire as to why Poe seemed to know so much about the system, they stopped walking. Their destination was a shuttle stop.

“Wait. Are we getting off the planet?”

“Yep. We’re going to Yir, the residential planet.”

The trip between the two planets was short but just as stunning as when they had first approached the system. Seeing the stream of ships up close revealed specific patterns of transit. If witnessing it made Finn think of it as less beautiful, it also made him marvel at the dedication it had to have taken to achieve it. ‘Impressive’ didn’t really cover it.

They touched ground again and this time Poe didn’t seem to have a destination in mind. Yir’s architecture was less beautiful and more utilitarian than Neshama, but Finn thought it had more character. There was no uniformity in the city. There was a cluster of buildings in several pastel colors that looked like glazed cookies, fat and short red brick buildings, huge glass skyscrapers. Even the people were less elegant. They were still wearing more clothes than necessary with more patterns and colors Finn even knew existed, but there was an edge to it. Stronger, darker colors. Lots of leather and shiny materials.

At one point they passed what looked like a truly ancient house. Its yellow bricks were ruined by time and weather, there were no colored glass panes, and no expensive fabrics covered the door and windows. Despite this, a little crowd of people surrounded it, jamming what looked like tiny scraps of paper into the fixtures between bricks. The papers covered the entire house.

“They’re putting their names in the house.” Poe said looking in the direction of that strange ritual. He was smiling but his eyes had a sad softness to them.

“Which is a normal thing to do. Not at all weird.”

Poe laughed. “It’s a part of an ancient tradition. A long time ago, before interplanetary travel was even possible, a humanoid race already inhabited the place. According to the story, there was a woman. She kept seeing this other woman in her dreams and was sure she was the one she was destined to marry. The woman embarked on a journey to find her. She encountered many difficulties, monsters, pirates, thieves, murderous kings and lying knights. Until one day, she finally found her. The woman had been dreaming about her too. They embraced and the world suddenly made sense. They got married that same day. People say they were the first couple to ever soul-bond. They led the happiest life, in this very house, for many years. It’s said that their spirits still linger here and that if you put your name in the house they’ll send you a vision of your soulmate.”

“How do you know so much about this system and their traditions?” Asked Finn in awe. He had never even heard of this place before, but apparently Poe was a genuine expert.

“Come on, I’ll tell you over lunch.”

The men walked around, looking for a place that caught their interest when Poe suddenly said, “I don’t believe this.”

Finn looked in the direction the other man was looking at and saw a small two stories building. Above the entrance in bold neon, orange letters was written “Rossah’s”.

“Isn’t that the restaurant Rosia was chattering about the other day?” Asked Finn eyeing the building.

“Yep. It’s fate. We have to go in.” Poe replied starting to walk towards the entrance.

“Are we sure we trust the lady with three sweaters to give good restaurant recommendations?” But either Poe didn’t hear him or he was ignoring him because he just kept walking. Finn caught up and they entered the place together.

The restaurant wasn’t as garish as Finn thought it would be, so point one for Rosia Sprom and Rossah, whoever they might be. Another huge point in favor was the smells wafting from the kitchen. A bouncy waiter came up to them and seated them to a table in a corner. Despite the time and the fact that the three suns of Neshama were shining bright and beautiful that day, the restaurant was invitingly dark and cool. The men sat down and it felt like they were the only people in the place, even though almost all the tables were occupied.

This time Poe let Finn order for both of them, assuring him he was willing to eat absolutely anything.

“So. Weird and unexplainable knowledge of this system. Go.” Finn said as soon as the waiter left.

“My parents met on this system.” Poe started. “They were both working with the Rebels and had been sent on different missions. They shouldn’t have met, really. They were supposed to be on different planets. Then my father’s pilot defected stranding him on Neshama while surrounded by enemy spies. My mother heard his distress call and flew her ship to the rescue. A few years later they got married and they had me. My parents had a special place in their hearts for this system. I grew up hearing all the stories.”

“Wow, no wonder you were so excited to come here for this mission.” Finn replied, sipping from his water glass.

“Among other things.” Poe said, cryptically.

“Your mother was a pilot then. Did she teach you how to fly?” Finn had a vision of a child with curly hair and bright brown eyes playing pretend, flying a wooden box to the stars.

“She would have liked, but she died when I was nine.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.” Finn was starting to realize that no matter how much he and Poe told each other, they hadn’t been friends very long. There were unsaid things between them. Some that were being purposefully kept and some that they simply hadn’t had a chance to share yet. Finn had made a choice, early on, to leave his past behind him. Poe, on the other hand, had always been forthcoming. He was always ready to share a personal story be it sad, funny or anything in between. Sometimes Finn wanted to close himself up in a room with the man for a few weeks and ask him to share everything of himself since day one up to the day they met. Maybe even after that. Finn briefly wondered what Poe would one day say of him when telling someone the story of how he got fake married for the Resistance once.

Finn would have held Poe’s hands, but he was keeping them both under the table.

Before Poe could reply, a spindly young woman with silver hair and the darkest eyes Finn had ever seen appeared before them with their orders.

“Hello. I’m Rossah. As in ‘Rossah’s’.” She said, putting the plates down, pulling up a chair from a nearby table and sitting down.

“Hello?”

“So, tell me about you. You’re clearly not from around here.” She said eyeing their clothes.

“We’re not. But we know someone who is. Rosia Sprom?” Said Poe, who had started digging into his meal as if this whole thing was a normal occurrence.

“Oh, Rosia! How is she? We haven’t seen each other in forever, ever since that Soren guy she was dating played that little trick on her. Every time I see him at Dani’s bar I want to punch him in the face. But oh, shame on me, where’s my head these days? Tell me your story.” She said in what seemed one breath. She rested her chin on her hands and looked at them expectantly.

Poe was busy inhaling his lunch so Finn took it upon himself to answer her.

“Oh boy. You’re gonna like this one. This guy right here. Totally clueless. He pined after me for weeks.” At that Poe seemed to choke on his food. Finn poured him some water and continued right on. “He was writing our names together surrounded by tiny hearts. Daydreaming on the job about our future together. The whole nine yards. After a while, I finally took pity on the guy and saved him from embarrassing himself too much. We started dating and we’ve been together since.”

Rossah clapped her hands excitedly. “This is such a nice story.” She said, her voice going up an octave.

Rossah and Finn chatted for a while, while Poe stayed conspicuously silent. After a while, she seemed satisfied with their chat. With an assurance that the two men would say hi to Rosia from her if they saw her again, she left to go bother the other clients.

“Can you imagine living in a place where everyone is always up in everyone else’s business?” Finn asked, finally digging into his lunch.

“Have you met the other pilots?” Asked Poe raising an eyebrow. “If their nosiness could be harnessed by the Resistance we’d have defeated the First Order a long time ago.”

“They never asked _me_ anything. Does this mean they don’t like me?” Now that would have been devastating for his ego.

“Are you joking? They like you more than they like me.” Finn found that very unlikely. “It’s because I vetoed it. Being the boss has its merits.”

“Wow, so you’re a big deal.” Finn said, jokingly echoing Poe’s words.

The two finished their lunch, Poe paid and they got out. Finn’s stomach was warm and heavy with good food and his heart warmer with good company.

“So, what are we doing now?” Finn asked after a brief walk around the block. “Are we going back?”

“Nope.” Poe grinned in a way that told Finn something reckless and potentially deadly was about to happen. “We’re gonna find that Soren guy and get him to clear Rosia’s name.”

“Poe.”

“Come on! It’s gonna be fun.”

“You and I have very different ideas of what constitutes fun.” Finn said, already knowing he was going to say yes. He probably would have said yes if Poe had proposed they find the nearest ocean and flung themselves into it from space. Hopefully Poe didn’t know that. “We don’t even know where to find this guy.”

“Well, we know his name is Soren and that he drinks at place name Dani’s. Or that’s owned by a Dani. Or in which a bartender is named Dani.” Finn could see Poe’s brain spinning behind his eyes. Finn was so screwed.

Finn sighed. “I think it’s safe to assume it’s somewhere in the neighborhood or Rossah wouldn’t go there as often as the phrase ‘every time I see him’ implies.”

“That’s the spirit!”

The two of them asked around and found out that there were two bars named “Dani’s” and one owned by a Dani in the neighborhood. Apparently, Dani was a popular gender-neutral name in the system.

The first Dani’s was a dive bar. It looked exactly like the kind of place where Finn expected to find a smuggler on the run from the law. And, looking at the state of the place, also several different types of infections.

Poe sat down at the bar and Finn followed suit. He tried to touch the least amount of its surface as possible.

“What can I get you boys?” A burly man taller than any one of Finn’s friends stacked together asked them. Finn let Poe order. The strongest thing he’d ever had was infused water.

“Have you ever seen someone named Soren? He might be involved in some unsavory business.”

The bartender looked at them like they were a suspicious stain on a hotel sheet.

“I swear if I ever get that guy he’s dead meat!” Burst out the man. “I get all manner of creeps looking for that guy. I’ll tell you what I tell everyone else, I have no idea who this guy is.”

Finn and Poe were out of there before the man could even finish the sentence.

“That was a very angry man!” Poe said, chuckling.

“He didn’t even ask us about our story! I was looking forward to embarrass you again with a really cheesy one.”

“Not, if I do it first.” And with that they moved onto the second bar. This one was the one owned by a Dani, but its name was what to Finn looked like an elaborate squiggle.

It was a step up from the first bar they visited, but it was equally a bust. The owner of that too had only ever heard of Soren from people who had come in looking for him. The only high note was Poe regaling a highly fictionalized account of their meeting involving way more awkwardness and embarrassment than Finn remembered.

The third Dani’s was a classy bar, full of beautiful people drinking complicated drinks. It seemed unlikely that a smuggler on the run from justice would be there.

“I don’t think he’s here.” Finn said with a shrug. The place actually looked like it was cleaned regularly.

“Asking won’t hurt.”

The owner of the bar was a heavily tattooed woman who must have been in her 50s.

“Excuse me, do you know a Soren?” Poe asked.

“Yep, he’s a regular. He’s over there.” She said, pointing towards a table in a corner. There, a man was sitting alone nursing a drink.

Rosia hadn’t really given a detailed description of the man, and yet Finn had no doubt that he was the guy they were looking for. He had light brown hair sticking up, big blue eyes, and the nicest mouth Finn had ever seen on a human being. He wouldn’t have described him as ‘hot as a summer day on Jakku’ but he understood why someone else would.

“Soren.” Poe greeted the man.

“Do I know you?” He asked. He seemed genuinely surprised to have his wallowing interrupted by a surprise visit.

“Rosia sent us.” Said Finn hoping to sound intimidating.

Maybe he’d been too much so, because the man’s face crumpled and he melted into a flood of tears. Poe and Finn looked at each other in horror. Finn had no idea what to do about a crying smuggler. The man started blabbing something, but he was still crying so hard it was impossible to understand him.

“Buddy.” Said Poe putting a hand on Soren’s shoulder. “Calm down, we can’t understand you.” Poe continued passing the man a tissue he had magically produced seemingly out of nowhere.

Soren took a couple of deep breaths and started talking with a shaky voice. “Listen. I know I messed up. I messed up so badly. I didn’t want to put her in that spot, but the more time went on the harder it got to come clean. I just love her so much.” At that, he started sobbing again, hiding his face in his arms.

“There, there?” Finn awkwardly patted the man on the back.

‘What do we do?’ Poe mouthed at Finn over the heaving back of the smuggler.

Finn shrugged. He was so not ready for this situation. Poe was the older one, the most experienced and the one who had dragged him into that mess, he could figure it out on his own.

“Soren. Pal. Listen. Why don’t you come with us to Neshama and give yourself up? You’ll clear her name, do the right thing. I mean, sure, you might spend some time in prison, but you’re a smuggler, you never killed anyone right?”

 “Right.” Soren sniffled.

“And I mean. Smuggling. That’s minor. You’re gonna spend a year in prison, max. What did you smuggle?” Finn cut in, seeing where Poe wanted to go with the whole thing.

Soren used his sleeve to wipe his eyes and was about to do the same with his nose when Poe passed him another tissue, which he used to blow his nose loudly. “Some crown jewels.”

“So. Okay. A little more than a year probably. But once you’re out you’re out with a clean conscience. You can start the healing process.” Finn said, still awkwardly patting the man’s back. Poe looked at him and mouthed ‘What?’ Finn shrugged.

“You’re right. You’re absolutely right. You know what you guys? I’m coming with you. But before let me offer you a drink. Bartender!” Soren shouted holding up three fingers. The woman from before rolled her eyes but complied with the man’s request.

“Okay, but only one then we go back to Neshama.” Finn said resolutely.

Two hours and several drinks later the men stumbled out of the bar. Poe, the only sober one of the group, was holding Finn up. Meanwhile, Soren, who had drunk a lot more than them, was perfectly capable of not only walking in a straight line, but also being more coherent.

“Okay but, how do I even make up for what happened, you know?” Soren asked.

“Give her space! But not so much space that she goes away and you end up in love with someone else. That's too much space.” ‘Wait what?’ Finn thought. “Space.” He giggled. Poe squeezed him tighter around the waist. He was so warm and he smelled so nice. Finn put his head on Poe’s shoulder, which was a bit awkward since the man was slightly shorter than he was.

The combined wills of Poe and Soren managed to put Finn safely on a shuttle and they landed on the capital planet shortly after. They walked to the nearest police station and Poe made Finn sit down on a bench.

“Stay here, Buddy, okay? I’ll be right back. The last thing we need is you getting arrested for being drunk in a police station.”

Finn head was slightly spinning so he laid down on the bench. The suns had set and the night sky was beautiful and vast. He didn’t know how much time he spent gazing at the stars’ formations, but after a while they seemed to resemble Poe’s face. No. That _was_ Poe’s face. Inches from his.

“Wow. You’re so pretty. You’re prettier than that constellation.” Finn said, pointing to a cluster of stars. “And you’re waaay prettier than _that_ galaxy over there. That galaxy is garbage.” He continued, almost hitting Poe on his beautiful face while gesturing vehemently towards the sky.

Poe ducked the arm and smiled. Then he gave Finn a small white pill and a canteen with what he assumed was water inside.

“Take this Finn, please.” Poe’s smile was so nice. Finn swallowed the pill, and then promptly threw up in the nearest trashcan.

“What the hell, Poe?” Finn asked, taking the tissues the man was offering and wiping his mouth with it. Uh. Now that his stomach wasn’t murdering him anymore he realized his head didn’t feel like it was swimming in honey anymore.

“Sorry pal, but I need you more than sober for the next part. We need to sneak back into the Parliament.”

“What is that?” Finn asked, rinsing his mouth.

“Oh, it’s what the police use to sober up drunk and disorderly people. I stole it from a police officer.” Poe answered with a devilish grin. Of course.

Finn sighed heavily. Next time he was making the man try anything he offered before even considering ingesting it.

The two managed to arrive while the last group of tourists was getting ready to go in for a tour of the Parliament. They blended in with the crowd. Finn looked up to the big, heavy door he’d noticed the first time he’d seen the place. The carvings above it were even more intricate then he’d previously thought. Each section seemed to be a story of its own.

Finn felt Poe's breath on his ear. "It's the story of the star-crossed lovers of Neshama. Centuries ago, there were two lovers. They adored each other, but their union was cursed. They were fated never to be happy together. Each lifetime they would find each other and each time it would end in tragedy. The figures there are all the lives they lived. The legend says they'll keep coming back each generation until they can finally be happy together.” Poe whispered.

“You’re better than any tour guide.” Finn muttered, his eyes still fixed on the bas-relief.

There were dozens of stories. Dozens of tragic stories. He wondered whether Poe thought his parents should have been immortalized in it as well. Their story sure seemed tragic enough. But maybe that was just Finn’s attachment to the other man speaking. Something about the carvings unsettled Finn in a way he had never felt before.

All these people, loving and dying. Over and over again. His mind briefly went to General Organa and Han Solo. Their love had truly been the stuff of legends. He wondered if they’d end up in a bas-relief like that. He wondered if he would end up there as well. He guessed there was a poetry to a doomed love. He much preferred the idea of something kinder. A sweet smile and a pair of bright eyes every day for the rest of his life.

After a while, they finally got in. Finn immediately tuned out the tour guide. No offense to the man, but nothing was ever going to top Poe whispering sad love stories in his ears.

Once they were far enough into the huge main chamber, Poe nodded towards a side door semi hidden behind a pair of heavy curtains. They discretely detached themselves from the group and quickly got inside. There was a badly lit hallway and Finn immediately recognized it as a side hallway for the workers to move around unseen by the tourists and the members of Parliament.

They walked around for a while. Poe was following his own sense of direction and nothing else, but he seemed to know what he was doing. After the umpteenth turn, they finally found the stairs and climbed to the third floor. Poe tried to open the door, but it wouldn’t budge.

“Maybe there’s some security system to prevent people from doing exactly what we’re doing.” Finn said, an edge of anxiety in his voice.

Poe was about to reply when they heard two voices coming up the stairs.

“Poe.” Finn whispered. “If we fail this mission General Organa is gonna murder me and probably putting you on kitchen duty for a week.”

“Why would she murder you but stick me on kitchen duty for a week?” Poe asked, still trying to pry the door open.

“Because you’re her favorite child.” Finn replied peering down the dark stairs. The voices were getting closer.

Poe grunted. “It’s open, it’s just stuck.”

“Then get your back into it.”

Was Finn going to have to knock out some poor unsuspecting Parliament workers? He assumed the establishment heavily frowned upon this kind of stuff.

Just as Finn was debating the merits of not dying by General Organa’s hand versus the merits of not dying by some Neshamani judge’s hand, someone grabbed his jacket’s back and dragged him behind. Poe shut the door again behind them. They put their ears on the door and waited for the people who had almost found them out to pass.

Finn looked at Poe, who was grinning at him, his face flushed with exertion and excitement, his eyes reflecting the corridor’s lights. Finn grinned back. Not for the first time Finn realized just how handsome Poe was. Kind too, and reckless. So handsome. Was he staring? He was, but so was Poe, so he guessed it was okay. They just stood there for a while, breathing heavily and grinning at each other.

Luckily for them, Poe’s internal navigation system had been right and they were in fact back on their floor, close to their room even. It was a small miracle.

That night Finn slept better than he ever thought possible.

The next morning Finn woke up even earlier than usual. The night before they had forgotten to close the curtains on the windows and now the three suns of Neshama were shining directly onto his face. Finn tried to shield his eyes with his arm, but a sleeping Poe was pinning both of those down. The man was very possessive in his sleep. Not that Finn minded. It had only happened twice but this was quickly becoming his favorite way of waking up. He felt safe and loved in a way he’d never felt before. His life had always had an edge of panic to it. Even before his defection, fear had been an intimate companion, a constant. But here, in a planet far away, with danger potentially lurking at every corner, he felt _good_. He chalked it up to what he had begun to call The Dameron Effect. No matter how dire the circumstances, Poe’s presence always managed to center Finn and calm him down.

Finn felt on the verge of an important revelation, but Poe was warm and the suns weren’t that annoying. He fell right back asleep.

When he woke up again the second time, the suns had changed position and so had Poe. He was up and had apparently ordered breakfast because the silver trays were back inside their room.

Finn showered and got dressed and ate breakfast and throughout all that, he was thinking only about one thing. He and Poe were in the middle of a game of cards that Finn wasn’t so sure he’d completely understood, when he finally decided to ask.

“Do you think you can love different people in different ways?” He asked. There was something bothering him. Something about himself, Rey, and Poe. He hadn’t quite put his finger on it yet, but no one could say he wasn’t tenacious. He’d get there eventually.

Poe looked at him for a few moments, probably trying to understand where the question was coming from.

“Yes, absolutely. Every person you love, you love them differently.” Finn had half expected him to make a joke, but Poe seemed deadly serious.

Before Poe could go on or Finn could reply, someone knocked on their door. Finn went to open it and he found Jandé, one of the Queen’s advisors, in front of him.

“May I come in?” She asked. Finn let her in and the woman sat down on one of the chairs closer to the bed.

“So, I’m here to deliver good news. The Queen and Ridlee already know this, and when Her Majesty comes back tonight we’ll have an official meeting about it, but I wanted to put your mind at ease first. I’ve decided to vote in your favor. You’ll get our help.” She said, giving them a big smile.

Poe started laughing and hugged Finn. Then they both offered their hands to the woman, who shook them with enthusiasm.

“It’s a good start, but it’s not going to be all smooth sailing from now on. We need the formal approval of some key members of Parliament. Ridlee is going to at least try to make us change our minds.” She continued once the men had calmed down.

“Shouldn’t he yield to the majority?” Finn asked.

“He should, but this is personal for him. The First Order killed the woman he had a bond with a few months ago.” Jandé said, kindness and sorrow seeping in her voice.

“Well, then he should hate them, not us.” Finn replied. He wasn’t a fan of this ‘hate by proxy’ thing Ridlee had going on.

“He doesn’t hate you, he’s scared of you. Scared that getting involved with the Resistance might cost our people.” Jandé said. Finn could sympathize, but he’d grown to appreciate the role everyone’s choices played in the fight against the Dark Side. No one could afford to stay neutral.

Jandé stayed there to chat for a few more minutes before excusing herself. Once she was gone, Poe turned to Finn. His eyes were full of pride.

“You did it, Finn! You aced your first ever diplomatic mission for the Resistance.”

“I know! We did it! I was so sure we were gonna fail miserably.” Finn said, running up to Poe and hugging him with all the strength he had. Finn had never felt like this before. Poe was looking at him like he was important and valued. Finn had the startling realization that Poe had been looking at him like that since their first meeting.

Suddenly, and without even knocking, Jandé burst into their room and the two men broke apart.

“You need to go. Now!” She said with urgency.

“What’s wrong?” Asked Poe at the same as Finn asked, “What happened?”

“It’s Ridlee. He’s lost his mind. He’ll do anything to stop this deal and he’s coming to kill you.” She explained while pacing the room. “There’s not much time, he’s coming now. Go hide in the Queen’s chambers. Anyone there is protected by all our moral and ethical laws.”

“What will you do?” Poe asked.

“I’ll try to reason with him. If that fails, I’ll stop him.” She said with steely determination in her voice.

The three of them got out of the room and into the corridor. They walked for a few minutes and Finn couldn’t stop looking over his shoulder. The whole ‘running away from a man dressed all in black intended on murdering him and Poe’ thing was getting very old very fast.

They had finally reached the elevator that would have delivered them to safety when a small group of guards headed by Ridlee spotted them.

“Stop right there!” The man shouted running towards them.

“Go! I’ll hold him!” Jandé said. She took out a small blaster from under her robe and shoved them into the elevator, punching in the right code for them.

Poe took Finn’s hand and dragged him into the Queen’s chambers. The two pushed a heavy dresser in front of the door and piled up as much heavy furniture they could find on top and in front of it in order to barricade the door.

“We should have made Jandé come with us.” Poe said, lifting a heavy vase above the dresser.

“She’s gonna be fine.” Finn replied with conviction. At this junction in time they had to worry about not getting killed before anything else. And, well, Jandé seemed like a competent person. She was going to be fine.

Even as he thought that Finn felt a heavy load settle on the bottom of his stomach

Suddenly they heard something crash horrifically against the doors.

“Go away now and you have my word you won’t be harmed.” Ridlee shouted from behind the door.

“No offense, but your word doesn’t hold much weight right now.” Finn shouted back. He was considerably sure the door would hold. They were safe.

“Fine. You give me no other choice.”

Poe and Finn waited, but nothing seemed to be happening. They were just about to feel tentatively safe when Finn heard it. The sound of crackling fire. The dick was trying to smoke them out. Which was absolutely going to work since the smoke was starting to fill the room.

“Quick, open the windows!” Poe yelled. As he was doing just that, Finn looked down. They were very high up. But the building also had lots of spires and turrets. If they were careful and fashioned a very long rope out of the curtains and bedsheets…

“Finn. I need to tell you something, if we don’t make it I –” Poe’s face was deadly serious and Finn was so not having that.

"No. I refuse do die on the planet of fancy people with terrible fashion sense, Poe. You’ll tell me later. Now help me make a rope.”

The two of them made quick work of all the heavy fabrics in the room, coughing as they worked. The stuff they had put in front of the door was keeping the fire from spreading too quickly to the rest of the room, but it was also filling it with smoke.

Finn went to the bed, realizing it was the heaviest thing in the room; he knotted the rope to one of its posts.

“Okay. This is either the best idea I ever had or the worst. Let’s find out which it is.” Finn said closing his eyes and slowly descending. The rope seemed to hold and Finn climbed it down to the nearest intersection of spires, where he could stand without falling down ruinously.

Poe started climbing down just as he was done. He was in the middle of it when the rope seemed to give way and Poe almost fell. Finn panicked, but Poe had a strong grip and managed to reach him.

They looked up. No one seemed to have realized they had managed to escape yet and hopefully they wouldn’t for a while longer.

“We need to catch someone’s attention. Hopefully someone with a ladder.” Finn said, but before he could do something with that, Poe pushed him behind a spire.

Finn wanted to ask Poe what was going on, but the other man put a finger to his lips and nodded toward the windows. They could hear a commotion inside. At least from their hiding place no one leaning out of the ledge could see them.

“Finn.” Poe whispered. Finn turned to look at him. He was so close he could see his own reflection in his eyes.

Then Poe kissed him. Finn closed his eyes. It was just a press of lips on his own but it made constellations burst behind Finn’s eyelids. It was at once surprising and familiar. Like meeting someone you love after a long time and picking up right where you left off. Finn kissed Poe back, cupping the other man’s face in his hands.

Too soon it was over and Finn saw Poe’s eyes fluttering open. For a second Poe looked at him like he looked at the sky. Then he visibly panicked. Just when Finn was realizing that _yes_ , those feelings he had for Poe were very much in the realm of romantic love. And _yes_ , Poe seemed to feel the same way, which was a small miracle in and of itself.

"I'm sorry, I-"

"Shush," Finn said putting a finger against the other man's lips. "I'm having a realization."

Before he could elaborate however, the noises from the Queen’s room ceased. They looked up just in time to see the Queen herself appear. She looked royally pissed off.

“Your Majesty!” Poe shouted getting out of their hiding place and waving his arms.

The Queen threw her arms up in frustrated relief and said something to someone Finn couldn’t see. She disappeared from view and Jandé leaned out. She had a cut on the bridge of her nose but she looked otherwise unharmed. The heavy feeling in Finn’s stomach disappeared and he gave a sigh of relief.

“Stay there!” Jandé yelled “We’re sending someone to come and get you.”

A rescue later, the men were standing in the Queen’s now ruined bedroom. The woman in question looked livid, but her fury wasn’t directed at them. Apparently she had come back and when she hadn’t seen either of her advisors there to accompany her back to her residence as customary, she had gotten worried and rushed home. Just in time to meet a frantic Jandé and stopping Ridlee from destroying the palace in his quest to murder Poe and Finn. The Queen was having A Day.

The murderous advisor himself was currently being detained in one of the detention rooms in the Parliament, to the relief of everyone involved.

“I’m very sorry this happened and I can assure you this only strengthens my resolve to get involved with your cause.” The Queen said, taking Finn’s hands in hers. This was a real relief, because after all the trouble and an attempted assassination, going back with bad news would have been a real blow to Finn’s newfound confidence in himself.

To prove her commitment, the Queen insisted they wave protocol and finalize their agreement immediately, in hope that it wouldn’t be delayed anymore. Finn couldn’t have been happier. He was so ready to get out of that place full of murderous, ridiculous, fancy people.

When they finally were back to their room, this time to pack up for their trip back home, Finn sighed with relief. Finally.

“Don’t you think we should talk about before?” Poe asked. There was some uncertainty in his voice, which Finn didn’t like.

Finn got as close to Poe as he could. He saw the other man swallow while looking up at him.

Finn hadn’t kissed a lot of people in his life, but what he lacked in skill he made up for in occasional bursts of charm, like in that moment. He put his hand on Poe’s face, his thumb stroking the skin below the man’s eye. He slowly closed the gap between their faces, giving enough time to Poe to come to his senses and run screaming out of the room. Poe didn’t. Instead, he surged forward with an impatient noise.

Their lips collided and a high-pitched noise that Finn would have denied making under any circumstances escaped from him. Poe was a good kisser. Actually, scratch that, Poe was a great kisser. Finn had never had any doubts about that. Finn took the chance to run his fingers through Poe’s hair. He had wanted to do that ever since laying eyes on the man. It was as soft as it looked.

Finn gently pushed Poe towards the bed. Poe seemed to get the message because he let himself fall, bringing Finn down with him.

It was happening. If Finn played his cards right, he was going to have sex with Poe Dameron. It was both a daunting and elating prospective.

Poe scooted up the bed and Finn followed suit, until he was straddling the man. Finn took a moment to form a plan of attack.

“Have you ever done this before?” Poe asked, one of his hands going up to rest on Finn’s hip.

“Nope.” Finn replied. Not that he was going to let that stop him.

“You know, we can take our time. There’s no hurry.” Poe said. His hand had found its way under Finn’s shirt and was currently resting on his skin. Poe probably didn’t mean it to be that distracting, but it was.

“Oh, I intend to take my time.” Finn replied, finally having decided to attack Poe’s shirt first. He kissed the man, his hands snaking under the shirt and lifting it up as high as it would go. Poe seemed to finally catch the drift when he felt the shirt get to his chin and broke the kiss to take it off and toss it somewhere.

Finn stared a little. It wasn’t anything he hadn’t seen before, but now he was allowed to _touch_. He put both hands on Poe’s chest. It was warm and Finn could feel Poe’s heart beating under his palms. Poe was looking at him from heavy lids, a smile on his face. Finn placed a small kiss on the man’s chest, right over his heart. How was a man whose job consisted mostly of sitting down in cramped spaces have such a great body?

“Come here.” Poe said, his hands going to Finn’s neck and then the back of his head.

Finn kissed him. Poe smelled a little like burnt wood. His hands started roaming on Finn’s back, until they found the hem of Finn’s shirt.

“Can I?” Poe asked.

“Yeah!” Finn replied, nodding emphatically. Poe once again tossed the shirt somewhere on the floor. It occurred to Finn that he should maybe feel self-conscious. He liked the way he looked, but he had never stopped to consider whether someone else would like it too. He chanced a glance at Poe. The man was looking at him with an intensity he’d never seen in him. His eyes were dark and he was biting his lower lip. Poe looked at him like he looked at the stars and the galaxies in the sky. Finn was getting hard just from this and they had barely done anything yet.

Poe looked up and grinned. In a move Finn had not foreseen, Poe gripped his hips and quickly and skillfully flipped them over.

“Hey!” Finn protested halfheartedly.

“Wait here a second.” Poe said getting up. Finn wanted to protest, but in what was probably a record time Poe took off the rest of his clothes before getting back on the bed.

Finn swallowed, heat rising to his face and neck. Poe was beautiful. He knew the word was reductive and he had used it so much it had probably lost all meaning, but it was true.

“You’re beautiful.” Finn blurted out. He thought Poe would laugh at him or make a joke; instead, he straddled him again and laced their fingers together, bringing their joined hands over Finn’s head.

Poe leaned closer to him.

“You’re beautiful too.” Poe whispered, his breath warm on Finn’s hear. “Can I?” He asked, his hands resting on the waistband of Finn’s pants. Finn could do nothing else but nod.

Poe got up and made quick work of Finn’s clothes. He took a few seconds to just look at Finn. Finn should have felt exposed, but under Poe’s intense gaze, he just felt wanted.

Poe straddled him again. Every point of contact was sending jolts of electricity to Finn’s heart and low in his stomach. Poe kissed him again, taking his time. Then he started trailing small kisses down Finn’s chest with a clear destination in mind. Finn was relatively sure the anticipation alone was going to kill him. Well, at least it would have been a pleasant way to go.

“If you don’t like something, tell me and I’ll stop.” Poe said. Finn nodded.

Poe grinned and without any preamble licked the length of Finn’s dick. Finn was sure the only thing keeping him from coming then and there was his iron grip on the last shreds of dignity he had.

Poe was skilled and his tongue was devious. He kept licking and kissing and it was nothing like anything Finn had ever experienced before. The combination of sensations was overwhelming. The sight of the man’s mouth on him, the feeling of his lips touching him so reverently, the deep, low sounds he was making. It felt like being able to see a new color of the spectrum. Something bewildering and heady.

Finally Poe’s lips wrapped around the head of Finn’s dick. He slowly, maddeningly, made his way down, as if he wanted nothing more than memorize every inch of Finn’s skin before letting go. Finn hoped he’d never let go. Poe dragged his lips up again. This time when he went down again, he subtly picked up the pace. With every stroke he became faster and faster, his hands working with his mouth to cover all of Finn. With every stroke, Finn could feel something warm and electric tugging low in his stomach and pulling him apart in the best way possible.

Finn’s hands flew to Poe’s hair. He didn’t mean to tug at it, not really, but his body didn’t seem to reply to his commands anymore. His muscles were tightening harder and harder with each wave of that electric feeling. Poe’s hair was collateral damage. Not that he seemed to mind. Every time Finn tugged, a low moan came out of Poe’s lips and sent vibrations through Finn’s spine.

“Poe –” Finn started. His hips were bucking without his permission. The waves of electricity were crashing harder and harder on his consciousness. He was close.

Poe let him go with an obscene sound, his hands still working.

“You’re about to get the first of many Poe Dameron certified orgasms. How does that feel?”

Finn would have hit him, but that probably would have meant stopping his current activities. Instead, he groaned and covered his face with his arm.

“Do I get a sticker?”

Finn came to the sound of Poe laughing.

Poe, either not noticing or not caring about the mess on Finn’s stomach, crawled back up Finn’s body. He was rock hard against Finn’s side and leaking.

Poe leaned as close to Finn as he could without actually touching him. “Hi.” Poe whispered into Finn’s mouth.

“Hi.” Finn replied, his hand finding its way to Poe’s dick.

Poe was warm and heavy in Finn’s hand and he started stroking experimentally, using Poe’s precome to avoid friction. This, at least, Finn was familiar with. The angles were different, and Poe was heavier, but the mechanics were the same. Poe’s breath hitched. Up close like this Finn could hear every gasp and every moan, see every fluttering of eyelashes and every lip bite. It was heady, undoing Poe like this. Finn had thought himself helpless when it came to the other man, but now it was clear Poe was helpless too. If Finn hadn’t come already that would have been enough to send him over the edge.

Finn kissed Poe. It was sloppy and messy, but neither of them seemed to care. Finn heard a groan as Poe came. He collapsed on top of Finn. Poe was a beautiful but heavy man; Finn nudged him and Poe rolled over.

They just laid side by side for a few moments, trying to catch their breath and take stock of what had just happened. Then Poe leaned over and took Finn’s discarded shirt to clean them up before tossing it aside once again. Finn looked at it. How weird would it be to create a shrine for the shirt that memorialized his first time?

“Are you okay?” Poe asked, leaning on his elbow and looking at Finn. His other hand was stroking Finn’s face.

“I should have gone with the penis lightsaber fight the first time.”

Poe looked at him very intently. “Did I accidentally scramble your brain with sex? Because it happened before.”

“Liar.” Finn replied fighting a yawn. They still had to pack and he really wanted off that planet, there was no time for a nap.

“I never lie.” Poe replied with a weird intensity. Like he really wanted Finn to figure something out. Well, tough luck, Finn was tired and oblivious. He would probably figure it out at the next most inconvenient time. Poe was going to have to deal.

“Okay. We should shower and pack.” Finn said, putting an arm around Poe’s chest and burrowing into the space between the man’s shoulder and the covers.

“Finn, we really have to go.” Poe said planting a kiss on Finn’s cheek. If he was trying to make a case for getting out of bed, he was making a really poor one.

“We can shower together.” Poe continued, his hand going lower and lower on Finn’s body.

That, at last, got Finn up.

A couple of hours later, Poe and Finn were back on the hangar, looking for Rosia’s ship. Instead they found the woman herself, jogging towards them with a huge smile on her lips.

“The Damerons!” She greeted them, hugging them both at the same time.

“I thought you weren’t allowed on the planet’s soil.” Finn said hugging her back. This weirdo was their ticket off the planet; she was his favorite being in the galaxy in that moment. Well, with one notable exception.

“All charges against me have been dropped. My good for nothing ex gave himself up.” At that, Rosia started sobbing. _Not again._ Finn thought while Poe started rubbing the woman’s back in a show of awkward comfort.

“I’m just – I’m just so happy, you guys.” She continued, fanning her face with her hands as a very inefficient way to dry her tears.

“What about your ex, are you going to go see him?” Poe asked. Finn hoped she wouldn’t. Rosia was weird and loud, but her boyfriend was a huge pain in the ass. No one deserved that.

Rosia sighed. “I don’t know. On the one hand, he’s my bond. On the other hand, he’s a dick.”

“Well, that’s a direct way to put it.” Finn muttered.

“But enough about me! I wanna hear absolutely nothing about your trip. Let’s get to the ship, Mr. and Mr. Dameron.” She said sauntering away.

Poe and Finn couldn’t do anything else but follow her. Finn took Poe’s hand and the two boarded the passenger ship.

Finn and Poe settled down comfortably, with Poe sitting and Finn laying down with his head in Poe’s lap. Poe had been the one distracting him earlier; he could serve as a pillow now. Finn closed his eyes; if he could nap now, maybe later he could get up to funnier activities.

“So. Damerons. Now that I’m officially a Neshamani again, I have to ask.” Rosia begun once the ship was safely traveling through space. “What’s your story? No details, of course.”

“He saved my life and I pretty much fell in love instantly.” Poe said with a sigh.

“That’s so beautiful.” Rosia said, sniffling.

Well, that surely beat the truth. ‘Oh my friend here didn’t realize he was in love with me until it smacked him in the head.’

Wait.

Poe never lied. Oh. _Oh_.

Finn opened his eyes; Poe looked at him and winked.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading. I can be found on tumblr at [markzuckerbergs](http://markzuckerbergs.tumblr.com//) for any crying and/or angry yelling.
> 
> Fun fact: if you're familiar with Hebrew you probably already realized this. The names of the planets are in Hebrew because my name isn't Tolkien and I didn't have time to invent a billion languages for my [Norse mythology fanfiction](http://www.academia.edu/228734/Norse_Elements_in_the_work_of_J.R.R._Tolkien>Norse%20fanfiction</a>.%20Neshama%20means%20). That said. "Neshama" in Hebrew means "soul" but it's also used as a term of endearment meaning something like "my beloved", which I thought was appropriate.


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